Dulce de Leche Churro Muffins - All the flavors and satisfaction of fresh churros but in muffin form with no frying involved! Brushed with melted butter, rolled in cinnamon-and-sugar, and filled with dulce de leche or caramel sauce, these FAST and EASY muffins are so soft, moist, and PERFECTLY decadent!
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Muffins
Servings: 12
Calories: 316kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Churro Muffins
2cupsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonground cinnamonor more to taste if you love cinnamon
1teaspoonground nutmeg
½teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonsalt
½cupunsalted buttersoftened and at room temp
½cuplight brown sugarpacked
⅓cupgranulated sugar
2large eggsat room temp
½cupsour creamGreek yogurt may be substituted; do not use regular yogurt or lite products
¼cupwhole or 2% milk
1 to 2teaspoonsvanilla extract
Coating and Filling
6tablespoonsunsalted butter meltedplus more if necessary
½cupgranulated sugar
2teaspoonground cinnamon
Instructions
Churro Muffins - Preheat oven to 425F and if desired, line a 12-count standard muffin pan* with liners or spray very well with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
To a large bowl, add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking power, baking soda, salt, and whisk to combine; set aside.
To a separate large bowl and handheld electric mixer (or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), add the butter and beat on high speed to cream it (no cream being added, this is a verb) until soft and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sugars and beat on medium-high speed to incorporate, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the eggs and beat for 30 seconds.
Add the sour cream, milk, vanilla, and beat to combine.
Turn off the mixer, add the bowl with the dry ingredients, and using a rubber spatula, stir the dry into the wet ingredients, taking care not to overmix. Tip - I do this by hand to avoid overmixing or overworking the dough with an electric mixer which results in tougher muffins.
Evenly divide the batter between each cavity of the muffin pan, noting that each should be no more than 2/3 to 3/4-full. Note that this is a thicker batter so don't be surprised by that. You can use a medium cookie scoop to dollop the batter into the muffin pan cavities if it makes it easier for you.
Bake for 5 minutes at 425F.
Without opening the oven, simply turn down the heat to 350F, and bake for about 15 more minutes at 350F, or until muffins are done. Muffins are done when the center is domed and set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. Tips - Baking the muffins at a high temp of 425F for just 5 minutes helps them to rise beautifully. Make sure to turn the oven down to 350F after 5 minutes and finish baking them at 350F.
Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
Coating and Filling - While the muffins are cooling, melt the butter in a small bowl.
In a separate bowl, add the sugar, cinnamon, and stir to combine.
If you used muffin liners, unwrap the muffins before brushing each with melted butter and then rolling in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Tips - If you want the muffins to be very buttery or very well-coated in cinnamon-sugar, you'll likely need to use more butter and cinnamon-sugar than called for. Repeat the brushing and rolling process with all muffins.
If desired for serving, drizzle a bit more dulce de leche over the tops of the muffins and serve. Muffins are best fresh but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 4 days, noting the muffins may get a bit soggy as time passes from the dulce de leche filling.
Notes
*You can make mini muffins by baking them in a mini muffin pan for about 10 minutes, or as needed. Remember that mini muffins can cook very quickly! I wouldn’t attempt to fill them with the dulce de leche and instead recommend simply drizzling it over them.**If you think it’s necessary you can use a small paring knife to carefully remove a small chunk of muffin top so that you can more easily fill the muffins with the dulce de leche that you have in a piping bag with a round tip. You can also just “force it” into the muffin tops which is what I do because it’s easier and faster! If your muffin tops look a little bit “destroyed” after the piping bag got to them, it’s easy to mask any divots or holes by sprinkling a bit more cinnamon-sugar over the hole. Or just dollop on extra dulce de leche. Easy to hide and fix!